Devastated David Smith has demanded action against the popular Ask.fm site where 14-year-old Hannah turned for help about eczema but was subjected to a torrent of ­sickening anonymous posts telling her to “die”.

The tragic youngster was found hanged in her bedroom by horrified sister Jo, 16, last Friday. Police are investigating her death.

But even as David spoke, vile trolls were heaping more ­heartbreak on his family by hijacking Hannah’s Facebook tribute page with more disgraceful attacks. One branded her a “coward” for taking her own life.

Grief: Distraught dad David (Image: Jon Fuller Rowell/Daily Mirror)

Vile: Sickening message on Facebook tribute site (Image: Facebook)

David said: “How many more ­teenagers will kill themselves because of online abuse before ­something is done? These sick people are just able to go online and hide behind a mask of anonymity while they abuse vulnerable teenagers.

“We’ve lost Hannah in the most horrendous way imaginable. It’s time something was done so that no other family has to go through this.

“When you’re sitting behind a computer screen you can say whatever you want and there’s no comeback. But these trolls need to realise that they are affecting people’s lives in the most horrific ways imaginable.

“If you’re bullied in the workplace something is done about it and if you’re bullied at school something is done about it. So why, when people are being bullied on social networking sites, is nothing being done about it?”

Lorry driver David told how he was at work when he got the shocking call telling him Hannah was dead. He added: “Jo found her hanging in her bedroom just after 6am.

“She ran to my brother’s and called emergency services but there was nothing they could do. Hannah had clearly been determined to kill herself. She’d had enough, she’d been pushed too far. Now I can’t even go upstairs as it reminds me of what happened. I sleep in the living room.”

Cry for help: Hannah's post days before she killed herself (Image: HotSpot Media)

Trolls: Messages posted to Hannah on Ask.fm (Image: Ask Fm)

Hannah, who was preparing to start her GCSEs, had gone on Ask.fm looking for advice after the eczema that blighted her early childhood returned.

Like many users, she wanted to air her ­problems, which included self-harming. But the anguished youngster was hit with a string of foul abuse.

“However we also cannot forget that thousands of young people, as in the tragic case of Hannah Smith, face a daily barrage of online abuse, death threats and harassment. We cannot stand by while innocent children lose their lives.

“We want internet service providers, websites, schools, government and the police to come together and produce a UK anti-bullying strategy, to prove this kind of behaviour will not be ­tolerated. It’s shocking that one in three young people are cyberbullied.”

Ask.fm was created in 2010 by brothers Mark and Ilja Terebin. It is not covered by British online regulations.

Former boss of the Child ­Exploitation and Online Protection Centre Jim Gamble has branded the site a “stalkers’ paradise”.